In 2010, drunk driving represented 31 percent of all highway deaths, equating to 10,228 lives lost. Another 350,000 people were injured in drunk-driving crashes. The cost of this epidemic to our country was $132 billion. However, to me, these aren’t just numbers. My 15-year-old daughter, Alisa, was killed in a drunk driving crash. And while drunk-driving deaths have been reduced by more than half in the 32 years since Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was founded, we still have much work to do.

A cutting edge research project called DADSS (Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety) is currently underway and could one day eliminate drunk driving in our country. The project seeks to develop an in-vehicle technology to seamlessly and passively detect a driver’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The program to develop this lifesaving technology is a joint effort between the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, comprised of the world’s leading auto manufacturers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Since retaking control of the House, GOP leaders, along with an assortment of anti-union and corporate organizations, have subjected the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to ferocious criticism. After 15 months of desperate attacks, however, the sole “offense” of which they can credibly accuse the board is improving enforcement of the law. This explains their outrage – at heart, they oppose the fundamental rights the board enforces.

But now the NLRB’s Inspector General (IG) has produced a report that documents a real ethics scandal – as opposed to the GOP’s imaginary ones – at the board. While serving as NLRB Chief Counsel to GOP board member Brian Hayes (himself the subject of an earlier ethics investigation), newly appointed Republican member Terrence Flynn funneled confidential information about the board activities and deliberations to two former Republican NLRB members, Peter Schaumber and Peter Kirsanow. Schaumber is now chief labor advisor to the Romney campaign, while Kirsanow has represented the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

The IG’s report concludes that Flynn “violated the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch.” As Chief Counsel, Flynn must have recognized the sensitivity of the “most confidential of Agency information” that he leaked, which was intended only for key board personnel.

The use of performance indicators has the potential to improve service quality and avert costs, yet such indicators have typically not been used to assess family planning and reproductive health services. An exception is California’s Family PACT (Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment) Program, a statewide family planning and reproductive health services program. Our study assessed whether the behavior of providers participating in this program was influenced by performance reports that used both quality improvement and utilization management indicators.

Examined three indicators in each category from 2005 to 2009 and found that change occurred in five of six indicators among private providers and in three of six indicators among public providers. Chlamydia screening rates in women age twenty-five and younger, for example, increased significantly among both private and public providers. Despite the challenges enumerated in this article, we conclude that the methodology used in the program could serve as a starting point for the development of a uniform set of provider-focused reproductive health quality and utilization reports that could be instituted by state family planning programs, state Medicaid programs and health plans, and other health care delivery systems.

Washington Post

U.S. accelerating cyberweapon research [Pentagon, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, U.S. Cyber Command, cyber warfare] – Ellen Nakashima reports that the Defense Department is increasing its efforts to develop cybertechnology capable of disabling military systems of countries such as Iran and Syria, including systems not connected to the Internet; the primary cybersecurity focus up to now has been on defending against cyberattacks

Broadcasters fight plan to post names of political ad buyers on Web [Federal Communications Commission, political advertising] – Todd Shields reviews the written comments by broadcasters opposing the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to require broadcast stations to post political ad buyers and ad rates on the web, not just make them available at broadcast station offices; groups advocating for greater transparency in campaign financing support the FCC’s proposal

This cost-cutting reform deserves a chance [Medicare] – As the Supreme Court gets set to hear the challenge to the 2010 healthcare law, The Post endorses a provision of the law that House Republicans want to repeal as early as this week – the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a panel of healthcare professionals that would recommend changes to Medicare if healthcare costs increase beyond a targeted amount; the paper says this body would make the necessary, hard choices that politicians consistently avoid

Teach for America’s new partnership with largest for-profit charter network [Teach for America] – Valerie Strauss questions the wisdom of  Teach for America partnering with the for-profit charter school network, Imagine, which operates 75 charter schools in 12 states and whose practices have been the subject of state investigations

New York Times

Mortgages for drilling properties may face hurdle [Agriculture Dept., Rural Housing Service and Rural Business and Cooperative programs, oil and gas drilling] – Ian Urbina reports that the Agriculture Dept. is considering requiring an environmental review of mortgage applications by property owners who lease their land for oil and gas drilling, in keeping with the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews before federal money is spent; the agency’s Rural Housing Service program granted $18 billion in loans or loan guarantees to 140,000 families last year; the decision would also affect the agency’s Rural Business and Cooperative program, which issued $1 billion in loans to 15,000 businesses last year, and it could also subject loans by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to environmental reviews as well

House panel to cite new flaw in energy loans [Energy Dept., green energy, Solyndra] – Matthew L. Wald reports that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been building a case against the administration for politicizing the Energy Department’s loan programs and will issue a report to that effect tomorrow when Energy Secretary Chu testifies before the committee

Justice after Senator Stevens [Justice Dept.] – The Times argues that in the wake of prosecutorial misconduct in the Justice Department’s case against the late Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) which was detailed in a 500-plus page special prosecutor’s report, the agency should follow the lead of state and local governments and train its prosecutors to be “far more forthcoming about evidence favoring the defense”

Wall Street Journal

Regulators seek to cool hospital-deal fever [Federal Trade Commission] – Brent Kendall reports that the Federal Trade Commission is concerned that hospital mergers may be anticompetitive and result in higher costs for patients and insurance companies, and will challenge them despite the government’s poor track record in past challenges of hospital mergers

U.S. made profit on mortgage debt [Treasury Dept., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac] – Jeffrey Sparshott previews the Treasury Department’s announcement later today that the government made a $25 billion profit on mortgage bonds it purchased from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the financial crisis

With gas prices rising, smog rules may stall [Environmental Protection Agency] – Tennille Tracy reports that the spike in gas prices may result in the Environmental Protection Agency delaying its roll out of “Tier 3 vehicle and fuel standards” – stricter standards for oil refineries and auto manufactures aimed at reducing pollution and increasing efficiency

This Work Incentive Seminar Event webinar will be held on October 10, 2012 from 3 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The webinar is for people who receive Social Security disability benefits and who want to learn how the Ticket to Work program can help them earn money and become financially independent. You’ll also learn about writing a resume, job interview tips, whether or not to discuss your disability with a potential employer and tips for on the job success. Register online or call 1-866-968-7842 (V) or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD).

There is tremendous interest in different approaches to slowing the rise in US per capita health spending. One approach is to publicly report on a provider’s costs—also called efficiency, resource use, or value measures—with the hope that consumers will select lower-cost providers and providers will be encouraged to decrease spending. In this paper we explain why we believe that many current cost-profiling efforts are unlikely to have this intended effect. One of the reasons is that many consumers believe that more care is better and that higher-cost providers are higher-quality providers, so giving them information that some providers are lower cost may have the perverse effect of deterring them from accessing these providers. We suggest changes that can be made to content and design of public cost reports to increase the intended consumer and provider response.

While there has been no shortage of media coverage surrounding this week’s historic Supreme Court consideration of challenges to the Affordable Care Act, one voice has been noticeably silent: that of our nation’s children. No matter what the outcome of the Court’s deliberations, one thing is certain: this law has made several monumental investments in child health, and they deserve to be celebrated.

I’m a pediatrician at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and I’ve seen just how much the Affordable Care Act’s investments in preventive care and increased access to care have made a difference for my young patients.

The Accessibility Committee of the Chief Information Officers Council is sponsoring a webinar on October 10, 2012 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The new interagency Accessible Electronic Document Community of Practice will address how to produce accessible electronic documents and will provide resources for agencies to use to make sure electronic documents are accessible. Register online.

Washington Post

Prosecutors concealed evidence in Ted Stevens case, judicial investigators find [Justice Dept., prosecutorial misconduct] – Del Quentin Wilber and Sari Horwitz report that Justice Department lawyers who prosecuted and won a conviction against the late Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) for corruption, which was later thrown out, engaged in misconduct – including concealing evidence favorable to Stevens – were poorly managed, and operated under political pressure, according to a scathing 500-plus page report issued by a special prosecutor at the direction of the judge in the case; the Justice Department is conducting its own internal investigation

Report of strategic reserve release denied by Obama administration [President Obama, Strategic Petroleum Reserve] – Steven Mufson reports that the White House denied press reports that it had agreed with Prime Minister Cameron of Britain to a timetable for releasing crude oil from the country’s 696 million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to bring down the price of gas, which threatens the economic recovery

SEC likely to win its defense of ‘no-admit’ Citigroup settlement, appellate panel says [Securities and Exchange Commission] – David S. Hilzenrath reports that a panel of three federal appellate judges ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup would likely win their case to overturn a lower court judge’s ruling blocking their $285 million settlement of the SEC’s case against Citigroup for fraud; the judge rejected the settlement because it did not require Citigroup to admit wrongdoing and was far too low a penalty in light of the seriousness of the charges and the $700 million harm to investors; the panel’s ruling allows the appeal to go forward

Pentagon: Afghan security breach was more serious than reported [Secretary of Defense Panetta, Afghanistan] – Craig Whitlock reports that according to the Pentagon, the Afghan soldier who commandeered a truck on the airfield as Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s plane was landing in Afghanistan, had set gasoline canisters on fire before he drove the vehicle toward U.S. military officers and other dignitaries waiting to greet Panetta; the Defense Department initially played down the attack and Secretary Panetta said that it was probably not aimed at him

Widow of Marine who committed suicide to receive life insurance claim [Veterans Affairs Dept., survivor’s benefits] – Greg Jaffe reports that the Veterans Affairs Department reversed an earlier decision denying survivor benefits to the widow of a 26-year veteran of the Marines who had committed suicide due to post-traumatic stress that he hid; the VA’s initial ruling rested on the fact the Marine had not received a formal diagnosis of mental illness

New York Times

New law clears the way for airports to drop T.S.A. screeners [Transportation Security Administration] – Ron Nixon reports that a law makes it easier for airports to get permission from the Transportation Security Administration to opt out of using federal screeners and use private contractors instead; airports must still prove that private screeners, which have to operate under TSA guidelines, are more cost effective and would not threaten security

Geithner says U.S. economy showing signs of expansion [Treasury Secretary Geithner] – Reuters reports that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told attendees of an economic meeting that the current level of economic growth is higher than the level before the financial crisis, but warned that when tax cuts and federal spending cuts end, it could slow down considerably, and he urged passage of a tax reform package, including higher taxes on the wealthy as a means of sustaining growth

Despite rights concerns, U.S. plans to resume Egypt aid [Secretary of State, Egypt] – Steven Lee Myers reports that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will waive a rule tying U.S. military assistance to a country’s protection of “basic freedoms” in order to release some of the $1.3 billion in aid authorized for the Egyptian government; the U.S. had used the aid as a bargaining tool to win release of Americans working with non-governmental organizations whom the Egyptian government had detained

Wall Street Journal

CFTC targets rapid trades [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] – Scott Patterson reports that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission plans to use advanced computer systems to monitor on a daily basis high-speed trades that distort financial markets like the trades that caused the 2010 “flash crash’

Pentagon downplays China’s rare-earth controls [Defense Dept., China] – James T. Areddy and Nathan Hodge report that just days after the U.S. filed suit with the World Trade Organization to get China to increase its exports of rare-earth minerals used in technology manufacturing, a Defense Dept. report says the U.S. is increasingly capable of meeting the military’s needs for the materials

Google in new privacy probes – [Federal Trade Commission] – Julia Angwin reports that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Google violated its settlement with the agency regarding its privacy practices by bypassing certain Apple users’ privacy settings; European regulators are also conducting investigations

Washington Post

Supreme Court allows Idaho Couple to challenge EPA on wetlands ruling [Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Water Act, wetlands] – Juliet Eilperin and Robert Barnes report that the Supreme Court unanimously decided that the Environmental Protection Agency had overreached when it prohibited a couple who sought to build on their property, which the EPA said was on protected “wetlands,” from appealing the agency’s determination in court; EPA had ordered construction blocked and the property restored to its former state or the couple would face severe fines; the government argued that the property owner’s lawsuit to overturn EPA’s order would have been premature

Pentagon suspends efforts to recover remains of troops in North Korea [Pentagon, State Dept., North Korea] – William Wan reports that efforts to locate the remains of 5,300 U.S. service personnel assumed buried in North Korea after the Korean war is at another impasse, a casualty of North Korea’s announcement that it would conduct a missile test after raising hopes that it would agree to limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for food aid

Supreme Court expands plea bargain rights of criminal defendants [Supreme Court, right to attorney] – Robert Barnes reports that the Supreme Court voted 5-4 that the right to adequate legal representation guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment applies to plea agreements, not just when a defendant goes to trial, opening the door for a multitude of appeals based on ineffective legal counsel during the plea bargaining phase of a case; Justice Anthony Kennedy once more provided the pivotal vote, joining the Court’s liberal wing in the decision

Obama touts solar in Nev. As part of four-state tour on energy policy [President Obama, energy policy] – Scott Wilson reports that President Obama struck back at Republicans ridiculing his support for solar power and his energy policy in general in a campaign-styled tour of states that included stops at solar manufacturing companies, oil and gas production fields and Cushing, Oklahoma, the southern end of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline

New York Times

To cut costs, postal service turns to rural stores [U.S. Postal Service] – Ron Nixon reports that the Postal Service is increasing its presence in retail stores because most post offices lose money; the agency has proposed closing 3,700 post offices

Wall Street Journal

Spending clash looms on election eve [federal budget] – Damian Paletta and Naftali Bendavid report that it’s déjà vu all over again with the White House and congressional Republicans far apart on spending, which could lead to a partial government shut-down just before the November election

FCC plans new rules on satellite airwaves [Federal Communications Commission] – Amy Schatz reports that the Federal Communications Commission took steps toward developing regulations to open up satellite airwaves for wireless phone use, including technical standards to increase participation of smaller phone companies and avoid technical interference

In the eighth year of a ten-year plan to arrive at nationwide use of electronic health records, the current national coordinator tells one of his predecessors that the country is “on the march.”

Last week Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder announced the launch of an innovative partnership among the federal government, State officials, several leading private health insurance organizations, and other health care anti-fraud groups to prevent health care fraud. This partnership is the Obama Administration’s next step in fighting fraud, designed to compliment the various new tactics implemented since the passage of health care reform in 2010.

According to last week’s press release, the new partnership will help public and private entities share information and best practices in order to better detect and prevent the payment of fraudulent claims. It aims to halt scams that cut across a number of public and private payers and help law enforcement officials more effectively identify and prevent suspicious activities, better protect patients’ confidential information and use the full range of tools and authorities provided by the Affordable Care Act and other laws to combat and prosecute illegal actions.

One goal of this partnership is to develop the ability to spot and stop payments billed to different insurers for care delivered to the same patient on the same day in two different cities. Another potential long-range goal is to use technology and analytics on industry-wide healthcare data to predict and detect health care fraud schemes.

In the last 3 years, the Administration’s efforts have resulted in a record-breaking $10.7 billion recovered from health care fraud.

Washington Post

New counterterrorism guidelines permit data on U.S. citizens to be held longer [Office of the Director of National Intelligence, National Counterterrorism Center, Attorney General Holder] – Sari Horwitz and Ellen Nakashima report that Attorney General Eric Holder has approved new guidelines for the National Counterterrorism Command, a clearinghouse for terrorism data established after 911, including allowing the NCC to maintain records on citizens and non-citizens longer than five years even if the subjects have no connection to terrorism; agencies sharing such data would be allowed to negotiate a shorter period

Army to charge Robert Bales with murder in killing of Afghan civilians [Army, Afghanistan] – Craig Whitlock and Carol Morello report that the Army will charge Staff Sgt. Robert Bales with 17 counts of murder for his alleged unprovoked killing of Afghan civilians in Kandahar Province which has had serious repercussions for U.S-Afghan relations

Labor Dept.: Green jobs account for 2.4% of employment in 2010 [Labor Dept., green technology jobs] – Sarah Halzack reports that 3.1 million “green jobs” were created in 2010 according to the Labor Department’s first survey of this category of job creation, which includes manufacturing of hybrid cars, production of solar power and weatherization construction projects

Court orders FDA to examine antibiotics use on animals [Food and Drug Administration] – Dina ElBoghdady reports that in response to a lawsuit by health and consumer groups, a federal court has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to pick up where it left off in 1977 when it proposed a ban the use of penicillin and two forms of tetracyline to increase animal growth based on the agency’s concerns about their safety to humans; there is growing concern that over-use of antibiotics in animals will lead to drug-resistant “superbugs”

Holder has become voice of the president on controversial racial issues [Attorney General Eric Holder] – Krissah Thompson and Sari Horwitz reflect on Attorney General Eric Holder’s role as the administration’s point person on issues involving race, most recently ordering the Justice Department’s Civil Right Division to investigate the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida

New York Times

Dartmouth President is Obama’s pick for World Bank [President Obama, World Bank] – John Cushman Jr. reports on President Obama’s nominee to head the World Bank — South Korean-born Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartmouth College, and a physician who lead the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS effort

U.S. rejects environmental reviews on mortgages linked to drilling [Agriculture Dept., National Environmental Policy Act] – Ian Urbina reports that the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said his agency will not require extensive environmental reviews before issuing mortgages to landowners who lease their land for oil and gas drilling, a reversal of the what agency officials had told landowners and congressional offices in emails

House votes to kill a Medicare cost panel [Health and Human Services, Medicare, Affordable Care Act] – Robert Pear reports that the House of Representatives voted 223 to 181, mostly along party lines, to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board established by the Affordable Care Act whose job is to recommend cuts in Medicare spending if the rate of growth of health care costs exceeds certain targets

Wall Street Journal

SEC probes rapid trading [Securities and Exchange Commission, high-frequency trading] – Scott Patterson and Jean Eaglesham report on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation of high-frequency stock trades, which is blamed for the 2010 “flash crash,” when stock prices plummeted and then rebounded within a matter of minutes; the agency is focusing on “computer-driven trading platforms of exchanges”

Bernanke says low rates didn’t fuel bubble [Federal Reserve] – Kristina Peterson and Jeffrey Sparshott report that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told students at George Washington University that the Federal Reserve’s low interest rates did not cause the housing bubble, noting that housing prices had begun to rise in the 1990s and that there were housing booms around the world under different monetary policy

Fed hosts global gathering on easy money [Federal Reserve] – Jon Hilsenrath reports that the world’s central bankers will gather in Washington for a conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve to discuss practices such as “quantitative easing,” the purchasing of bonds to reduce credit costs and stimulate the economy, a tactic that was used by the Federal Reserve

Nationwide, as physicians and health care systems adopt electronic health records, health information technology is becoming integral to the practice of medicine. But current medical education and professional development curricula do not systematically prepare physicians to use electronic health records and the data these systems collect. We detail how training in meaningful use of electronic health records could be incorporated into physician training, from medical school, through licensure and board certification, to continuing medical education and the maintenance of licensure and board certification. We identify six near-term opportunities for professional organizations to accelerate the integration of health information technology into their requirements.

NYLN is now accepting applications for its Governing Board. Board members must be U.S. citizens between the ages of 14 and 28, have a disability and believe in full-inclusion. Find out more about what Board members do by joining an informational call on September 24. Applications should be postmarked no later than September 29.